Systems and methods for distributed video microscopy

ABSTRACT

System and methods are provided for distributed microscopy. A plurality of microscopes may capture images and send them to a media server. The microscopes and the media server may be part of a local area network. The microscopes may each have a distinct network address. The media server may communicate with an operations console, which may be used to view images captured by the microscopes. The operations console may also accept user input which may be used to selectively control the microscopes.

CROSS-REFERENCE

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 61/597,670, filed Feb. 10, 2012, which applicationis entirely incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Microscopes and related instruments are typically used to capture imagesof specimens. However, traditional image capture techniques are oftentime consuming and individualized. For example, in conventionalmicroscopes, samples are loaded onto a microscope which captures animage of the sample, and then unloaded to make way for the next sample.Many applications exist where high throughput techniques would bebeneficial for gathering information. However, the inefficiency ofconventional microscopy methods would become increasingly cumbersome forhigh throughput systems. Additionally, typical microscope arrangementsdo not have an efficient way of handling information collected from ahigh throughput system.

A need exists for systems and methods for distributed microscopy thatmay be capable of simultaneously capturing images and/or image streams(e.g., videos) from a plurality of microscopes operating concurrently. Afurther need exists for systems and methods for handling informationrelated to the captured images.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A network of microscopes may be operating concurrently on a Local AreaNetwork (LAN). The network of microscopes may provide the ability toview individual video feeds in real-time, locally or remotely, and theability to control individual microscopes (e.g., to adjust imagingparameters) over the network. Such an infrastructure may be inherentlyscalable and could be the “backbone” supporting distributed ormassively-parallel video microscopy. The impact of distributed videomicroscopy for applications such as in vivo brain imaging in freelybehaving subjects could be profound, enabling, for example, the runningof behavioral assays in parallel for basic research (e.g., to rundifferent control experiments, increase experimental throughput, etc.),and/or high throughput in vivo assays for drug screening.

An aspect of the invention may be directed to a system for distributedmicroscopy. The system may comprise a plurality of microscopes, eachmicroscope capable of capturing an image and having a network address; amedia server in communication with the microscopes over a local areanetwork, wherein the microscopes are capable of simultaneously providingimage data to the media server; and an operations console incommunication with the media server, capable of displaying at least oneimage based on the image data.

A method for collecting a plurality of images may be provided inaccordance with another aspect of the invention. The method may comprisecapturing a plurality of images, using a plurality of microscopes, eachmicroscope having a network address; providing data representative ofthe images simultaneously from the microscopes to a media server over alocal area network; and displaying at least one image at an operationsconsole in communication with the media network.

Other goals and advantages of the invention will be further appreciatedand understood when considered in conjunction with the followingdescription and accompanying drawings. While the following descriptionmay contain specific details describing particular embodiments of theinvention, this should not be construed as limitations to the scope ofthe invention but rather as an exemplification of preferableembodiments. For each aspect of the invention, many variations arepossible as suggested herein that are known to those of ordinary skillin the art. A variety of changes and modifications can be made withinthe scope of the invention without departing from the spirit thereof.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

All publications, patents, and patent applications mentioned in thisspecification are herein incorporated by reference to the same extent asif each individual publication, patent, or patent application wasspecifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The novel features of the invention are set forth with particularity inthe appended claims. A better understanding of the features andadvantages of the present invention will be obtained by reference to thefollowing detailed description that sets forth illustrative embodiments,in which the principles of the invention are utilized, and theaccompanying drawings of which:

FIG. 1 shows an example of a network architecture for distributed videomicroscopy in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 provides an additional example of a system for distributed videomicroscopy.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a user interface capable ofsimultaneously displaying multiple image feeds in accordance with anembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 provides an example of a system for distributed microscopy withdrug delivery capabilities.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

While preferred embodiments of the invention have been shown anddescribed herein, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art thatsuch embodiments are provided by way of example only. Numerousvariations, changes, and substitutions will now occur to those skilledin the art without departing from the invention. It should be understoodthat various alternatives to the embodiments of the invention describedherein may be employed in practicing the invention.

The invention provides systems and methods for distributed videomicroscopy. Various aspects of the invention described herein may beapplied to any of the particular applications set forth below or for anyother types of microscopy or imaging systems. The invention may beapplied as a standalone system or method, or as part of an integratedpre-clinical or clinical system. It shall be understood that differentaspects of the invention can be appreciated individually, collectively,or in combination with each other.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a network architecture for distributed videomicroscopy in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. One ormore microscopes 100 a, 100 b may be part of the network architecture.The microscopes may be in communication with a media server 110 and/oran operations console 120. One or more storage device 130 may also beprovided within the network architecture.

In some embodiments, one or more components of the network architecturemay be operating as part of a local area network (LAN). For example, anetwork of microscopes 100 a, 100 b may be operating concurrently on aLAN. The media server 110, operations console 120, and/or storage device130 may be part of the same LAN. In some instances, the LAN may beconnected or connectable to another network 140. The other network maybe a wide area network (WAN), such as the Internet, telecommunicationsnetwork, data network, another LAN, or any other network. In someinstances, a cloud-based network may be used. One or more components ofthe system or network architecture may have a cloud-computing basedinfrastructure. One or more components of the system (e.g., servers,storage devices) may reside in a cloud (e.g., physically at a remoteoff-site location or locations, or may be distributed over one or morelocations).

A microscope 100 a, 100 b may be capable of providing images. The imagesmay be provided to the media server 110. In some embodiments, the imagesmay be stored in one or more storage device 130. In some instances, theimages may be provided directly to the media server over the LAN orother type of network. Any description of a LAN may apply to any othertype of network and vice versa. The images may be sent as datarepresentations of the images. The data may be digital data. The imagesmay also be provided to an operations console 120. The images may beprovided directly to the operations console over the LAN, or may beprovided to the operations console through the media server. Forexample, the images may be provided to the media server, which mayprovide images to the operations console. The media server may provideimages to the operations console through the LAN, or through anothernetwork 140, such as the Internet.

The images provided by a microscope may be a static image (e.g.,snapshot) or image stream (e.g., video). The images may be providedcontinuous (e.g., continuous video feed) or in a discontinuous (e.g.,snapshots or videos taken at discrete times) manner. In some instances,the network of microscopes may provide the ability to view individualvideo feeds in real-time. The microscopes may be broadcasting theimages. As the images are captured, the microscopes may transmit theimages in real-time. The microscopes may target the recipient of theimages, such as specific operation consoles, media servers, or otherdevices, or may broadcast in a manner where any number of recipients mayreceive the images.

The images provided by the microscope may have a high resolution. Forexample, the microscope may provide one or more images with a resolutionof up to about 100 nm, 300 nm, 500 nm, 700 nm, 1 μm, 1.2 μm, 1.5 μm, 2μm, 2.5 μm, 3 μm, 3.5 μm, 4 μm, 5 μm, 7 μm, 10 μm, 15 μm, 20 μm, 25 μm,30 μm, 40 μm, 50 μm or 100 μm. The microscope may have any field ofview. For example, the field of view may be greater than, less than, orequal to about 0.01 mm², 0.02 mm², 0.05 mm², 0.07 mm², 0.1 mm², 0.15mm², 0.2 mm², 0.3 mm², 0.4 mm², 0.5 mm², 0.7 mm², 1.0 mm², 1.2 mm², 1.5mm², 2 mm², 2.5 mm², 3 mm², 3.5 mm², 4 mm², 5 mm², 7 mm², or 10 mm².

The microscope may include one or more optical elements that will assistwith obtaining the images. For example, the microscopes may include oneor more lens, mirror, filter, dichroic, beamsplitter, or any otheroptical element. One or more objective lenses may be provided. Themicroscope may be capable of magnifying the subject, sample, or specimenbeing imaged. The optical element may permit light to pass through theoptical element. The optical element may reflect all or a portion of thelight. The optical element may filter the wavelengths of light or mayalter the wavelengths of the light passing through or deflected by theoptical element. One or more optical element may be movable with respectto another optical element and/or an illumination source. One or moreoptical element may be movable with respect to an object being imaged.The optical element may move automatically without intervention by ahuman. One or more fiberoptic element may or may not be used by themicroscope.

An illumination light source may be provided. The illumination lightsource may be part of the microscope. Alternatively, the illuminationsource may be separate from the microscope. Light from the illuminationlight source may be provided to the object being imaged. Response lightfrom the object being imaged may be provided to a light sensingarrangement. Response light from the object may be captured by an imagecapturing device. Light provided to the sample and/or from the samplemay interact with one or more optical element. The light may be passedthrough, focused, dispersed, and/or reflected by one or more opticalelement. The light may be used to back-light the object being imaged,front-light the object being imaged, or side-light the object beingimaged. Light from the illumination source may approach the object beingimaged from any angle(s).

Some examples of illumination light sources may include light emittingdiodes (LEDs) or organic light-emitting diodes (OLED). Other lightsources such as lasers may be used.

The image may be captured by the microscope in a digital and/or analogformat. One or more sensor array may be provided. In some instances, acamera may be provided to capture the image. The camera may be a stillcamera and/or a video camera. An image of the object being imaged may becaptured in a single instance (e.g., snapshot, video), or portions ofthe object may be captured at a time. For example, a scanning techniquemay be utilized. Data representative of the captured image (such asstatic images or video) may be transmitted by the microscope. The datamay be digital data. The data may or may not undergo pre-processing atthe microscope. For example, the data may be compressed, encrypted,formatted, validated, or undergo any other pre-processing step on boardthe microscope. The microscope may have a processor that may be capableof performing one or more pre-processing step. In some instances, datacompression may be useful for reducing bandwidth used by the microscope,which may be advantageous in high throughput situations.

The image captured by the microscope may be any type of image. Forexample, the image may include a visible image created by using visiblelight from the electromagnetic spectrum. The image may be a thermalimage using infra-red radiation. In some instances, the image maycapture a fluorescent reaction or may be created utilizing fluorescencemicroscopy. For example, epifluorescent imaging may be utilized, whichmay include the interaction between an excitation light and the targetobject, which may cause the generation of imaging fluorescence. Theexcitation light that reaches the object being imaged may have awavelength that may be configured for absorption by one or morefluorophores. The fluorophores may emit light at different (e.g., longeror shorter) or the same wavelengths. In some instances, acousticimaging, such as ultrasound may be utilized.

In some embodiments, the microscopes may be a miniature microscope. Forexample, the microscope may weigh less than or equal to about 100 grams,50 grams, 40 grams, 30 grams, 20 grams, 15 grams, 10 grams, 7 grams, 5grams, 3 grams, 2 grams, 1 gram, 700 mg, 500 mg, 300 mg, 100 mg, 50 mg,30 mg, 10 mg, 5 mg, 3 mg, or 1 mg. The microscope may have a smallfootprint. For example, a microscope may have a footprint of about 10cm² or less, 5 cm² or less, 4 cm² or less, 3 cm² or less, 2 cm² or less,1 cm² or less, 0.5 cm² or less, 0.1 cm² or less, 0.05 cm² or less, or0.01 cm² or less. The microscope may have a small volume. For example,the microscope may have a volume of about 50 cm³ or less, 30 cm³ orless, 20 cm³ or less, 10 cm³ or less, 5 cm³ or less, 4 cm³ or less, 3cm³ or less, 2 cm³ or less, 1 cm³ or less, 0.5 cm³ or less, 0.1 cm³ orless, 0.05 cm³ or less, or 0.01 cm³ or less.

One or more portions of the microscope described herein may be enclosedor partially enclosed in a housing of the microscope.

The microscopes may be used in in vivo applications. For example, themicroscopes may be attached to a live being and/or image a portion of alive being while delivering the images over the network. In one example,the network architecture may include that the microscopes 100 a, 100 bare attached to a live being 105 a, 105 b while connected to a network,such as a LAN. The microscopes may be attached to the live being and/orimage a portion of the live being while delivering the images over thenetwork. In some embodiments, the microscopes may be used for in vivobrain imaging, and may be capturing images of the live beings' brains.The microscopes may be used for other imaging applications and may imageother portions of the live beings. Other portions may include any bodilyfluid, tissue or organs of the live beings. The imaged portions of thelive beings may be subcutaneous. Alternatively, the imaged portions neednot be subcutaneous. The imaged portions may include images of asubject's skin or surface tissue. In some instances, only a portion ofthe live being may be imaged. The microscope may be installed adjacentto or immediately over the portion of the live being that is imaged. Themicroscope may or may not be contacting the portion of the live beingthat is imaged. In some instances, a gap may be provided between themicroscope and the portion of the live being that is imaged. A layer orbarrier may or may not be provided between the microscope and theportion of the live being that is imaged. For example, skin or othertissue may or may not be provided between the portion being imaged. Insome instances, an object being imaged may be underneath the layer, suchas the skin. The object may be imaged through the skin or other layer.

The live beings may or may not be conscious as the images are beingcaptured and/or delivered. The live beings need not be anesthetizedwhile the images are being captured and/or delivered. In some instances,the live beings may be freely moving while the images are capturedand/or delivered. The microscopes may be mounted on live beings. Themicroscopes may move with live beings as they move. The weight of themicroscopes may be carried by the live beings. The microscopes may bemoving or movable as the images are captured.

In some embodiments, a single microscope 100 a may be attached to a livebeing 105 a. Alternatively, any number of microscopes may be attached toa live being at a given time. For example, two or more, three or more,four or more, five or more, ten or more, or twenty or more microscopesmay be attached to a live being at a given time and/or imaging a portionof the live being at a given time. Different microscopes may be used toimage different regions or portions of the live being and/or the sameregions or portions of the live being. The different microscopes may besimultaneously providing images over the network. For example,concurrent video feeds may be provided of the live being.

The live beings may include any animals, such as mice, rats, otherrodents, dogs, cats, murines, or simians. In some instances, the livebeings may be humans. In some embodiments, the live beings may be 25grams or less, 50 grams or less, 100 grams or less, 500 grams or less, 1kg or less, or 2 kg or less in weight. Images may be gathered from thelive beings for pre-clinical or clinical testing. Images may be gatheredfrom the live beings for diagnosis and/or treatment.

In some instances, the microscopes may be mounted on beings that wereonce alive. The microscopes may be mounted on dead beings. Themicroscopes may capture images a portion of the dead beings. Theportions of the dead beings may or may not be subcutaneous.

The microscopes may be used to image live beings or non-live beings. Forexample, any type of sample, specimen, or subject may be imaged by themicroscopes. The sample may have been removed from a being, such as alive being. Alternatively, any other sample, specimen or subject may beimaged. The imaged object may be in a solid state, liquid state, gaseousstate, or any combination thereof.

Any number of microscopes may be provided on the network. In someembodiments, there may be one or more, two or more, three or more, fiveor more, ten or more, fifteen or more, 20 or more, 25 or more, 30 ormore, 40 or more, 50 or more, 60 or more, 70 or more, 80 or more, 100 ormore, 120 or more, 150 or more, 200 or more, 300 or more, 500 or more,or 1000 or microscopes connected over the network. Any number ofmicroscopes, such as those described herein, may be connected over aLAN. This may advantageously provide high throughput image gathering.Any number of the microscopes may be capturing and/or delivering imagesconcurrently. For example, all or some of the microscopes connected tothe network may be capturing images and delivering them to the mediaserver. The microscopes may continuously broadcast the images (e.g.,provide continuous video feeds), or may provide the images in a stagedor discrete manner.

Microscopes may be divided into one or more groups. Any number ofmicroscopes may be provided in a group. The groups may or may not be ofequal size. A single microscope may belong to any number of groups. Forexample, a microscope may belong to zero, one, two, three, four or moregroups. Group designations may be specified by a user. The groupdesignations may depend on the objects being imaged. For example,microscopes may be mounted on live beings. The microscope groupdesignation may depend on a characteristic of the live beings. Forexample, microscopes mounted on live beings being treated with aparticular drug with a particular dosage may belong to a particulargroup. Microscopes mounted on male live beings may be part of anothergroup. These groups may or may not overlap. A user may be able tospecify any number of groups, and may be able to specify whichmicroscopes belong to each group.

Microscopes may have any locations. For example, all microscopesprovided in the system may be at the same location (e.g., within thesame facility, on the same premises, on the same floor, or within thesame room). Alternatively, one or more microscopes may be at differentlocations (e.g., within different rooms, on different floors, indifferent buildings or facilities, on different premises, in differentcities, in different countries, anywhere in the world). The microscopesmay be capable of communicating over a global network. In someinstances, microscopes within the same group may be at the samelocation, or may be at different locations. Multiple groups ofmicroscopes may be provided at the same location, or distributed overdifferent locations.

Global integration of microscopes may be possible. Microscopes may benetworked together even if they are not at the same location. In someinstances, a cloud-based network architecture may be used to permitmicroscopes distributed among physically disparate locations to benetworked together. Other networks described may be used to permitmicroscopes located at various locations to be networked together.

Analytics may or may not be provided, which may assist the user withassigning zero, one, or more groups to a microscope. For example, if amicroscope can not belong to two mutually exclusive groups, the systemmay notify a user, if the user tries to assign the microscope to bothgroups. For example, a microscope may not belong to both a first groupof a particular dosage of a drug, and a second group with a differentdosage of the drug.

In some instances, the number of microscopes that can be supported bythe networked system may depend on a maximum data rate/channel, andavailable network bandwidth. Several optimizations can be performed tomaximize number of microscopes on the network under the constraints of acertain maximum channel data rate and the available network bandwidth.For example, data transfer rates may be modulated depending on sourceand/or destination. Network priority levels may be assigned to eachmicroscope, and changed, to preferentially allocate network resources tohigh-value data sources. In some instances, the resolution of the imagesprovided by the microscopes may be varied depending on anticipated need.For example, if an image being transmitted by a microscope is detectedto be depicting an object of interest, a higher resolution may be used,while other microscopes on the network transmit images at lowerresolutions. One or more form of lossless or lossy data compression maybe utilized. In some instances, data compression may depend on the imagecaptured by the microscopes. In some instances, the frame rate of theimage stream provided by the microscopes may be varied depending onanticipated need. For example, if an image stream being transmitted by amicroscope is detected to be depicting a process of interest, a highertemporal resolution (frame rate) may be used, while other microscopes onthe network transmit image streams at lower temporal resolutions.

The microscope 100 a, 100 b may be an integrated microscope that can bedirectly connected to the LAN. The microscope may be connected to theLAN in any manner. The microscope may be connected via a wiredconnection or a wireless connection. For example, the microscope may beconnected to the network via a cable, such as a standard CAT5/CAT6Ethernet cable. The microscope may be connected to the network via awireless connection, such as a radio, microwave, or infra-redconnection. Examples may include WiFi, Bluetooth, radiofrequencytransmitters.

A microscope 100 a, 100 b may have its own network address (e.g.,IPMAddr1 . . . n). For instance, the microscope may act as a node on thenetwork with its own static Internet protocol (IP) address.Off-the-shelf components and open standards can be leveraged to developcustom hardware for the microscope to enable it to be plugged into anetwork and assigned an IP address (akin to a computer network card). Insome embodiments, each microscope may have its own IP address. The IPaddress may be unique to the microscope within the LAN. The IP addressmay be unique to the microscope over a WAN. Each microscope may have adistinct network address, within the local system or within the globalsystem. In alternate embodiments, each microscope may or may not have anetwork address. In some instances, one or more microscopes of a networkmay not have a network address and/or the network address may not beassigned. In some instances, a network address may not initially beprovided to a microscope but may be assigned later on the fly. In someinstances, network addresses may be assigned to a microscope as needed.One or more microscopes, which may or may not be each microscope of asystem, may have a static network address that remains the same, or mayhave a dynamic network address that may be modified as needed on thefly. The network address of the microscope may permit a media server 110to access the microscope. In some embodiments, a remote operationsconsole may receive user input relating to the specific microscope.

The microscope may also have hardware that may permit images to becaptured and sent to the network. For example, custom hardware may beprovided, which may include a standard video codec, e.g., MJPEG orMPEG-4, and/or custom algorithms to compress acquired video imaging dataand stream over the network to a media server. The image format utilizedmay be a commonly used format, or may be a specialized format for thesystem. One or more format conversion may be utilized.

Power can be delivered to each microscope over Ethernet. In someinstances, power may be delivered to the microscope via a wiredconnection to a network. The microscope may or may not be solely poweredby the network connection. Alternatively, the microscope may have aseparate connection to a power source, such as a plug to a utility. Inother embodiments, microscopes may have a local power source on-board.The on-board power source may be an energy storage source (e.g.,battery, ultracapacitor), or an energy generation source (e.g.,renewable energy source such as solar energy converter).

A microscope 100 a, 100 b may have one or more characteristic,component, or features of a microscope, as described in U.S. PatentPublication No. 2006/0028717, U.S. Patent Publication No. 2011/0122242,or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/218,181, which are herebyincorporated by reference in their entirety.

A media server 110 may be provided in a network in accordance with anembodiment of the invention. The media server may be connected to one ormore microscopes over a LAN. The media server may be any device, whichmay include a server computer. The media server may have one or moreprocessor and/or memory thereon. The memory may be capable of storingtangible computer readable media with code, logic, or instructions forperforming one or more step or action described herein. The processormay be capable of performing the one or more step or action describedherein. The media server may have a network communication unit that mayconnect the media server to the LAN. The media server may be connectedto the network via a wired or wireless connection, such as thosedescribed herein. In some instances, a single media server may beprovided for a LAN of microscopes. Alternatively, any of the features orduties described herein may be shared by a plurality of media serversthat may be connected to the LAN. The plurality of media servers maycommunicate with one another over the LAN. The media server may or maynot have its own network address, such as a static IP address.

The media server 110 may be capable of receiving the images (e.g., videofeeds) from the microscopes. The media server may be able to receiveimages simultaneously provided by a plurality of microscopes. Aplurality of images may be simultaneously streamed to the media serverover a network. The media server may be a centralized server capable ofcommunicating with any of the microscopes simultaneously. The mediaserver also may be capable of communicating with a single selectedmicroscope or a plurality of selected microscopes simultaneously.

The media server may process and/or store the images. In some instances,the images may be stored locally on the media server. Alternatively, anadditional storage device 130 may be used. The additional storage devicemay be one or more databases, which may or may not be distributed overone or more network devices, which may include computers, servers,laptops, tablets, or mobile devices. The storage device may be directlyaccessible by the media server. The storage device may be a localstorage device that may be connected directly to the media server or theLAN. In some alternative embodiments, the storage device may be capableof communicating with the media server over a WAN, such as the Internet.The storage device may or may not have its own network address, such asan IP address. The storage device network address may be unique within aLAN, or a WAN.

The incoming streaming microscope images (e.g., video feeds) may bemanaged by the media server 110. Video feeds can be delivered forimmediate display and/or stored for future retrieval. In some instances,video feeds may be displayed at an operations console in real-time asthey are provided to the media server. Peripherals such the storagedevice 130 and other computing resources can be directly linked to themedia server.

In some instances, one or more therapeutic or drug delivery devices maybe connected to the network. The therapeutic devices may be able tocommunicate with a media server directly or over a network. Thetherapeutic devices may be able to communicate with an operationsconsole or other device directly or over a network, as described ingreater detail elsewhere herein.

The architecture provided may support a multicast network. A mediaserver may be capable of buffering a plurality of video feeds providedfrom the microscopes.

The media server may have a communications interface. The communicationsinterface may permit the media server to communicate over a network. Thecommunications interface may permit the media server to communicate withone or more microscopes, one or more drug delivery devices, one moreadditional servers, one or more operations consoles, one or more storageunit, or one or more peripherals. The communications interface maypermit the media server to communicate with any external device directlyor over a network. As previously described, the media server may alsohave a processor and a memory. The memory may store information, such asnon-transitory computer readable media comprising code, logic, orinstructions to perform one or more steps. The processor may be capableof performing one or more steps described herein. The processor may bespecially programmed to perform one or more of the steps. For example,the processor may be capable of executing one or more step indicated bythe non-transitory computer readable media. The processor may be capableof processing data from one or more sources, such as images frommicroscopes. The processor may create data that may be transmitted to anexternal device, such as an operations console or drug delivery device.

As previously mentioned, the media server may be capable of processingthe images. For example, the media server may decrypt and/or encrypt theimage data. For example, if the data provided from a microscope isencrypted, the media server may decrypt it. In another example, themedia server may encrypt image data before sending it to anotherlocation, such as a storage device or an operations console.

The media server may also be capable of compressing and/or decompressingimage data. In some instances, a microscope may pre-compress image databefore sending it to the media server. The microscope may pre-compressimage data to save network bandwidth. The media server may be capable ofdecompressing image data. Alternatively, the media server may compressdata received from the microscope prior to sending it to anotherlocation, such as an operations console.

The media server may format the image data. The media data may cause theimage data to be converted to a desired format. The desired format maybe a commonly used image/video format. Alternatively, the desired formatmay be a specialized format. In some instances, a format may be selecteddepending on the expected recipient device. For example, if a mediaserver is sending an image to an operations console, the image format orother characteristics of the image may be selected based on the type ofoperations console. For example, a different image format or othercharacteristic may be used when sending the image to a mobile phoneversus a personal computer. The media server may be capable of selectingthe proper image format and/or other characteristics and making thenecessary changes to the data.

In some embodiments, the media server may be capable of performinganalytics. One or more algorithms may be provided that may assist themedia server with analyzing the image data. For example, the mediaserver may note an anomaly or unusual portion of the image. Such ananomaly may be highlighted or zoomed. The media server may also note ifan error appears to have occurred in capturing the image. For example,if the image shows up as all white or black instead of showing theexpected image with its contrasts, an alert may be provided. Theanalytics may include making one or more measurement of portions of thecaptured images.

In some instances, the media server may perform analytics that mayaffect the subsequent operation of other external devices. For example,based on analysis of information received from the microscopes, themedia server may provide instructions to a drug delivery device or otherdevice. Alternatively, such analytics may be performed by another devicethat may receive data from the media server.

In some embodiments, an image captured by a microscope may affect theoperation of another microscope. For example, feedback related to imagedata provided by a first microscope may be used to guide a secondmicroscope. In some instances, analytics may occur on image data fromthe first microscope. One or more measurement may be made based on theimage data from the first microscope. Such analytics and/or measurementsmay occur at the media server automatically without the intervention ofa human. Alternatively, such analytics and/or measurements may occur atan operations console automatically without human intervention. Inanother example, a user may view image data from the first microscopeand provide one or more instructions. Such analytics and/or instructionsmay depend on features of interest provided in the image. The analytics,measurements and/or instructions may be used to affect the secondmicroscope. For example, the operations of the second microscope, suchas the zoom, pan, resolution, focus, illumination, or any other featuremay be affected.

Similarly, an image captured by a microscope may affect the operation ofthe same microscope. Feedback related to image data provided by amicroscope may be used to guide the same microscope. In some instances,analytics may occur on image data from the microscope. One or moremeasurement may be made based on the image data from the microscope.Such analytics and/or measurements may occur at the media serverautomatically without the intervention of a human. Alternatively, suchanalytics and/or measurements may occur at an operations consoleautomatically without human intervention. In another example, a user mayview image data from the microscope and provide one or moreinstructions. The analytics, measurements and/or instructions may beused to affect the same or other microscopes. The operations of themicroscope, such as the zoom, pan, resolution, focus, illumination, orany other feature may be affected. A microscope's operation can beadjusted in real-time. The operation may be adjusted in real-timeautomatically without requiring any human intervention, or may beadjusted in response to user instructions. The adjustments may occur inreal-time based on feedback from analyses being performed on the databeing fed to the network. The analyses may occur with the aid of aprocessor. The processor may perform a part of or the entirety of theanalyses. Alternatively, a user may perform part of or the entirety ofthe analyses. Decisions may be made on the fly and a microscope'soperation may be adjusted based on data collected by the microscopeand/or images (such as videos) observed.

A media server may provide a centralized repository that may manage theimage data from the plurality of microscopes. The media server maygather information from a plurality of microscopes, and may affect theoperation of microscopes based on the gathered information. Theoperation of a microscope may be based on information gathered aboutthat microscope, another microscope, another group of microscopes, orany combination thereof. Auto-adjusting and/or remote adjusting may beuseful in high throughput systems, where data gathered from a group ofmicroscopes can be used to make adjustments to any selected microscopes.Such adjustments may beneficially utilize the intelligence gathered fromsimultaneous processing. Such adjustments may also assist with improvingquality of images captured through the microscopes.

A network may also include an operations console 120. The operationsconsole may act as a user's gateway to the microscope image feeds andfor configuration and control. The operations console may have aprocessor and memory. The operations console may have a screen or otheruser interaction device. In some instances, the operation console mayhave a touchscreen. A user may be able to view information on theoperation console, e.g., through a screen. The operations console mayaccept user input (e.g., via keyboard, mouse, pointer, trackball,joystick, touchscreen, voice command, gesture command/camera, or anyother user interactive device). The operations console may authenticatethe user, manages access to image feeds, and/or may provide an interfaceto issue commands to control individual microscopes or groups ofmicroscopes.

In some embodiments, only authorized users may be permitted to accessthe images. In some embodiments, a use may be authenticated anddetermined whether the user is authorized to access the images. Theoperations console may receive a user input to authenticate the user.The user input may be a password, biometrics, voice recognition, or anyother sort of authenticating information from the user.

The operations console 120 backend may handle administrative functionsand its frontend may be a user interface for the network of microscopes,i.e., consists of image viewers displaying microscope video feeds andmodules for individual microscope control and online video analytics.The operating console user interface can be web-based, allowing forremote access to video feeds. Examples of such frontend functionalitymay be described in greater detail elsewhere herein.

Any network device may be used as an operations console. For example, anoperation console may be a device, such as a server computer, personalcomputer, laptop, tablet, mobile device (e.g., smartphone, cellularphone, personal digital assistant), or any other network device.

The operations console may be connected directly to the LAN. Theoperations console may communicate with the media server. The operationsconsole may or may not directly communicate with the microscopes. Insome instances, a server/client relationship and architecture may beprovided between the media server and the operations console. Theoperations console may communicate with the media server over a network,such as the LAN, or a WAN such as the Internet. FIG. 1 shows an examplewhere the operations console is connected to the media server over theLAN. The operations console may have its own network device, such as astatic IP address (e.g., IPCtrlAddr).

The operations console may permit local or remote communication with themicroscopes. The operations console may permit a user to view imagefeeds from the microscopes and/or control the operation of themicroscopes. The user may or may not be in the same location (e.g., sameroom or building) as the microscopes.

FIG. 2 provides an additional example of a system for distributed videomicroscopy. A plurality of microscopes (e.g., M1, M2, M3, M4, . . . )200 a, 200 b, 200 c, 200 d may communicate with a media server 210. Themicroscopes may communicate with the media server over a LAN. In someinstances, the microscopes may communicate with the media server over ahardwired or wireless connection. The microscopes may each have theirown network address, such an IP address, that may permit each microscopeto be individually controllable or accessible.

In some embodiments, one-way communication may be provided between themicroscopes and the media server. For example, the microscopes may sendimages to the media server. Or the microscopes may receive instructionsfrom the media server. In other embodiments, two-way communications maybe provided between the microscopes and media server. The microscopesmay send data, such as image data, to the media server. The media servermay send data, such as instructions, to the microscopes. Individualnetwork addresses for the microscopes may assist with the communicationsbetween the microscopes and the media server. For example, the networkaddresses may indicate to the media server which microscope the dataarrived from. Similarly, when instructions are provided to one or moremicroscopes, the network addresses may be used to ensure the selectedmicroscope(s) receive the instructions.

The media server 210 may be capable of communicating with one or moreoperations console 220 a, 220 b, 220 c. The media server may communicatewith the operations consoles over a network 240. In some instances, thenetwork may be a WAN, such as the Internet. In other embodiments, thenetwork may be a LAN. In some instances, an operations console may beprovided as part of the LAN over which the media server may communicatewith the microscopes (e.g., as shown in FIG. 1). In other instances, theoperations console is not part of the LAN, but is provided over aseparate network (e.g., as shown in FIG. 2).

Video feeds and data can be encrypted when sent outside the LAN, such asfor remote access. In one embodiment, such data may be encrypted whensent over a network 240, such as a WAN. The data may be encrypted whenprovided to a remote operations console. The data may or may not beencrypted when sent over the LAN (e.g., when sent from a microscope to amedia server or local operations console, or vice versa). In someinstances, the encryption may be performed using the media server. Otherdata manipulation such as validation, compression, formatting may occurat the media server.

A user may be able to communicate with a media server through anoperations console. The operations console may be a dedicated operationsconsole, or may be selectively utilized as an operations console. One ormore users may be able to communicate with the media server through oneor more operations consoles. Any number of operations consoles may beused to access the media server. For example, one or more, two or more,three or more, five or more, ten or more, twenty or more, fifty or more,100 or more, 200 or more, 500 or more, or 1000 or more operationconsoles may communicate with the media server. The operation consolesmay be communicating with the media server simultaneously or any numberof operation consoles may be communicating with the media server at anygiven time.

In some embodiments, an operations console may or may not have asoftware and/or application downloaded that may assist withcommunications with the media server. A software and/or application mayassist with viewing microscope feeds and/or controlling the microscopes.In some instances, the operations console may communicate with the mediaserver via a web browser. The web browser may display a web page or userinteractions that may enable a user at the operations console tointeract with the microscopes.

In some embodiments, any device may be or become an operations console.For example, a personal computer, laptop, server, tablet, or mobiledevice may be an operations console when it is communicating with themedia server.

An operations console may permit a user to access the microscopeslocally or remotely, and may provide the ability to control individualmicroscopes (e.g., to adjust imaging parameters) over the network. Auser may be able to view image feeds from the microscope through theoperations console. A user may be able to view the image feeds inreal-time. For example, a microscope may capture an image, and deliveran image, which may be sent to a media server, which may send the imageto the operations console. This may happen in real-time. Less than 5seconds, 3 seconds, 2 seconds, 1 second, 0.5 seconds, or 0.1 seconds mayelapse between the microscope capturing the image and the operationsconsole displaying the image to a user.

In some instances, each of the feeds from the operating microscopes maybe displayed to the user simultaneously. Alternatively, the user mayselect which feeds the user wishes to view. In some instances, a usermay view a feed from a single selected microscope, or may view aplurality of feeds from a plurality of selected microscopes. In someinstances, the microscopes may be arranged into groups. A user mayselect to view feeds from a selected group or plurality of selectedgroups of microscopes. The feeds from the selected microscopes may beviewed simultaneously. They may be viewed simultaneously in a continuousfashion. Alternatively, there may be a staggering or rotation of viewsprovided. For example, if eighteen microscopes are providing feeds, andthere is room on a screen of the operations console for 6 simultaneousviews, the images may be rotated so that 3 different rounds of siximages are provided. Images may be rotated or staggered in any order andwith any timing. A user may be able to select the number of separatemicroscope feeds to be displayed simultaneously and/or the timing ororder of such displays.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a user interface capable ofsimultaneously displaying multiple image feeds in accordance with anembodiment of the invention. A user interface 300 may be displayed on anoperations console. For example, a user interface may be displayed on ascreen of an operations console. The user interface may be displayed ina web browser or may be displayed as part of a software or applicationrunning on the device.

One or more microscope image feed 310 a, 310 b, 310 c, 310 d may beviewable on the user interface 300. In some instances, a plurality ofmicroscope image feeds are viewable simultaneously. The image feeds maybe arranged in one or more row and/or one or more column. In someinstances, an array of image feeds may be displayed. Alternatively, theimage feeds may be displayed in any manner. The image feed displays mayall be the same size and/or shape or may have varying sizes and/orshapes. In some instances, a set of thumbnail image or menu or imagesmay be provided. A user may select one or more of the thumbnail image toview an expanded display of the selected image.

A user may select individual microscopes and/or groups of microscopes byname or by network addresses. For example, the user may enter one ormore IP addresses to view feeds from the selected microscopes having theentered IP addresses. Alternatively, the user may enter a microscopename, number, graphical representation, or other identifier that maycorrespond to the one or more IP addresses, in order to view feeds fromthe selected microscopes. A user may be capable of selecting one or moremicroscopes to be controlled and/or to receive an instruction.

An operations console may also enable a user to remotely control one ormore selected microscopes. For example, through the operations console,a user may be able to zoom, pan, adjust excitation light, or selectfield of view for the one or more selected microscopes. A microscope mayzoom in or out, increase or decrease the field of view, pan laterally,adjust a scanning pattern, turn an excitation light on or off, adjustthe brightness or intensity of an excitation light, select one or moreexcitation light source, adjust a wavelength of an excitation light,adjust a focus of the microscope, or perform any other action inresponse to instructions from a user via the operations console. Theuser may provide an instruction through the operation console to themedia server, which may provide the instructions to the selected one ormore microscopes, thereby causing the microscope to respond to the usercommands. One or more components of a microscope may be actuated inresponse to user commands. Electrical signals may be provided to andwithin the microscope in response to user commands.

A media server may be able to communicate with an operations console inreal-time. For example, instructions from an operation console may bedelivered to a microscope in real-time and/or a microscope may respondto the instructions in real-time. In some instances, less than 5seconds, 3 seconds, 2 seconds, 1 second, 0.5 seconds, or 0.1 seconds mayelapse between receiving the instructions at the operations console andthe microscope reacting to the instructions.

A user may individually select images to respond to commands. Forexample, the user may enter network addresses or identifierscorresponding to individual networks. Alternatively, a user maypre-designate one or more groups of microscopes. The user may enteridentifiers corresponding to individual groups. All the microscopes inthe group may respond to the user commands. For example, the user mayenter a command to zoom in, causing all microscopes within the group tozoom in.

An operations console may also permit a user to interact with the imagedata provided by the one or more selected microscopes. A user may electto record image feeds from one or more selected microscopes; erase feedsfrom the one or more selected microscopes; or rewind, pause/freeze,play, or fast forward feeds from selected microscopes. A user may beable to edit an image. For example, the user may be able to zoom, crop,balance an image (e.g., brightness, contrast, color), sharpen, blur, orany other tool with the image.

Embodiments and infrastructure described herein may be inherentlyscalable and could be the “backbone” supporting distributed ormassively-parallel video microscopy. The system may be capable ofhandling high throughput microscopy.

FIG. 4 provides an example of a system for distributed microscopy withdrug delivery capabilities. One or more microscopes 400 a, 400 b, 400 cmay be able to communicate over a network 410. A media server 420 and/oroperations console 430 may also be able to communicate over the network.In some instances, additional external devices, such as therapeutic/drugdelivery devices 402 a, 402 b, 402 c may be able to communicate over thenetwork. As previously described, the network may be any type ofnetwork, such as a cloud-based network, LAN, WAN, or any other type ofnetwork.

The system described herein may be capable of delivering drugs remotelyover-the-network. In some instances, one or more drug deliverydevice/mechanism 402 a, 402 b, 402 c may be provided at an imaging site.In some instances, each of the microscopes 400 a, 400 b, 400 c may haveor be at the same site as one or more corresponding drug deliverymechanism. Alternatively, zero, one, two or more of the microscopes ofthe system may have or be at the same site as one or more correspondingdrug delivery mechanism. In some instances, one or more of themicroscopes need not have or be at the same site as one or morecorresponding drug delivery mechanism. A drug delivery device and/ormechanism may be integrally formed with the microscope, or may be aseparate component or device from the microscope. In some instances, thedrug delivery device or mechanism may be at each subject being imaged bya microscope. For example, a microscope may be attached to a live being.The drug delivery device may be configured to deliver drugs to the samelive being. The drug delivery device may deliver drugs to the live beingat the site that is imaged, or another site.

In some instances, the microscopes may be used to image an imaging sitethat need not be in a live being. For example, the imaging site may beimaging a well or micro-well. The drug delivery mechanism may be capableof delivering a drug to the same imaging site or another component incommunication with the imaging site. For example, the drug deliverymechanism may be capable of delivering the drug directly to a well beingimaged, or to another site that fluidically provides the drug to thewell being imaged.

In one example, a drug delivery device or mechanism may include asyringe with a network-connected actuator. The drug delivery device maydeliver drugs subcutaneously (e.g., via needle or microneedle(s)),topically, via aerosol, intravenously, or any other mechanism known inthe art. The drug delivery device may deliver a drug to a target site.The target site may or may not be imaged by the microscopes. The targetsite may be part of a live being that is imaged by the microscopes. Thetarget site may be capable of affecting an imaging site imaged by themicroscopes.

The network-based control system may permit adjustment of the drugdelivery device(s) remotely. For example, a user at an operating consoleor remote instance of an operator console can, based on the imaging datafeed, remotely adjust the amount of drug being delivered to a subject(e.g., at the imaging site or a part of the subject). In some instances,a user may provide instructions on whether to start drug delivery, stopdrug delivery, or alter dosage of drug delivery. In some instances, adrug delivery device or mechanism may provide a single drug or multipledrugs. The user may be able to remotely control the individual ormultiple drugs delivered. The user may provide such instructions inreal-time while viewing data, or at other times. The drug deliverydevice may respond in real-time, or in accordance with predeterminedschedules. The user may or may not be in the same room, floor, facility,premises, city, or country as the drugs being delivered.

In alternate embodiments, the determination for drug delivery may bemade with aid of a processor. For instance, based on analysis of theimage data, a processor may automatically provide instructions to startdrug delivery, stop drug delivery, or alter dosage of drug delivery, ofa single drug or multiple drugs. The processor may make adjustments on apredetermined schedule, in response to one or more detected events, orin real-time. In some instances, observations, drug deliveryadjustments, and feedback may occur in real-time. For instance,microscopes may capture images of a region which may be affected by drugdelivery, instructions to vary or maintain drug delivery may beprovided, the reaction may be imaged and based on such reaction furtherinstructions to vary or maintain drug delivery may be provided.

In some instances, the system may include additional external devicesthat may communicate over a network. For example, additional externaldevices may be capable of communicating with a media server and/oroperations console directly or over a network. The external devices mayaffect a site being imaged by one or more microscopes. The additionalexternal devices may share one or more characteristics of the drugdelivery devices mentioned herein or vice versa. For example theexternal devices may include light sources, heating or cooling sources,pressure controlling systems, moisture or humidity controlling systems,actuation or movement systems, or sample transfer systems. Suchadditional external devices may be controlled by a user who may or maynot be remotely located, or by a processor.

Distributed microscopy may be useful for in vivo and in vitroapplications. In some embodiments, in vivo imaging of an organism mayinclude imaging portions of the organism. For example, tissue, organs,fluid, or any other portion of the organism may be imaged. In someembodiments, in vivo brain imaging may be conducted using a distributedmicroscopy system. For instance, cerebellar vermis may be imaged tostudy microcirculation concurrently with locomotive or other behaviorsby mounting the microscope on the cranium of the organism. By mounting amicroscope on a conscious live being, and simultaneously imaging thebrain or other portions of the organism, various active processes of thelive being may be studied. Correlations between particular behaviors ofthe live being and brain activity, or other activity of the organism maybe made using imaging. Additional examples of in vivo applications mayinclude high-throughput drug screening in animal models of disease.Various genetic animal disease models exist, for example, for braindiseases such as autism, Parkinson's, and schizophrenia. Multiplemicroscopes imaging disease processes in animal disease models andnormal processes in animal controls may provide statistically-relevantdatasets leading to an understanding of the causal mechanisms ofdisease. In some instances the same infrastructure of multiplemicroscopes imaging diseased and control animals concurrently may beused to test the efficacy of new drug compounds in stemming diseaseprogression. Additional examples of in vitro applications may includemonitoring cellular and tissue assays in parallel, for example, to studyand identify early-stage drug candidates. Other in vitro applicationsmay include imaging and transmitting digital images from severalpathology workstations, with each workstation comprising of a microscopeimaging a tissue sample on slide. The distributed video microscopy mayhave applications in the areas of biology, chemistry, genetics,pharmacology, environmental, or any other areas.

The impact of distributed video microscopy for in vivo brain imagingcould be profound, enabling applications ranging from running behavioralassays in parallel for basic research (e.g., to run different controlexperiments, increase experimental throughput, etc.), to enabling highthroughput in vivo assays for drug screening.

The ability to deliver drugs or perform other actions in a massivelyparallel environment may also be advantageous in in vivo and in vitroapplications. For example, the ability to deliver drugs remotely overthe network may be important for high-throughput in vivo or in vitrodrug screening applications. The ability to view imaging data and reactquickly may save a large amount of time and manpower in variousscreening applications.

Such applications may permit a large amount of information to becollected in a parallel fashion. This may be useful for studies,research, or other information gathering applications where images arecollected from a large number of subjects and/or samples, and/or over aperiod of time.

It should be understood from the foregoing that, while particularimplementations have been illustrated and described, variousmodifications can be made thereto and are contemplated herein. It isalso not intended that the invention be limited by the specific examplesprovided within the specification. While the invention has beendescribed with reference to the aforementioned specification, thedescriptions and illustrations of the preferable embodiments herein arenot meant to be construed in a limiting sense. Furthermore, it shall beunderstood that all aspects of the invention are not limited to thespecific depictions, configurations or relative proportions set forthherein which depend upon a variety of conditions and variables. Variousmodifications in form and detail of the embodiments of the inventionwill be apparent to a person skilled in the art. It is thereforecontemplated that the invention shall also cover any such modifications,variations and equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for distributed microscopy comprising: aplurality of microscopes, each microscope capable of capturing an imageand having a network address; a media server in communication with themicroscopes over a network, wherein the microscopes are capable ofsimultaneously providing image data to the media server; and anoperations console in communication with the media server, capable ofdisplaying at least one image based on the image data.
 2. The system ofclaim 1 wherein the network is a local area network.
 3. The system ofclaim 1 wherein the network is a cloud-based network.
 4. The system ofclaim 1 wherein the operations console communicates with the mediaserver through a local area network.
 5. The system of claim 1 whereinthe operations console communicates with the media server over a widearea network.
 6. The system of claim 1 wherein the operations console iscapable of accepting an input that affects the operation of at least onemicroscope of said plurality.
 7. The system of claim 6 wherein the inputspecifies a corresponding network address of the at least onemicroscope.
 8. The system of claim 1 wherein the microscopes are mountedon a live being, or on several live beings, while capturing the image.9. The system of claim 8 wherein the live beings are capable of movingfreely while the microscopes are mounted.
 10. The system of claim 8wherein the microscopes weigh less than 3 grams.
 11. The system of claim8 wherein the microscopes have a volume of 5 cubic centimeters or less.12. The system of claim 1 wherein the operations console is at adifferent facility than at least one of the plurality of microscopes.13. The system of claim 1 wherein the network address is an Internetprotocol (IP) address.
 14. The system of claim 13 wherein the networkaddress of each microscope of said plurality is unique to that pluralityof microscopes.
 15. The system of claim 13 wherein the IP address is astatic IP address.
 16. The system of claim 13 wherein the IP address isassignable or alterable on the fly.
 17. The system of claim 1 furthercomprising one or more drug delivery device capable of delivering a drugto a target site.
 18. The system of claim 17 wherein the target site isa region imaged by at least one microscope of said plurality.
 19. Thesystem of claim 17 wherein at least one microscope of said plurality ismounted on a live being, and the target site is part of the live being.20. The system of claim 17 wherein the drug delivery device operates inresponse to an input received at the operations console.
 21. The systemof claim 17 wherein the operations console displays images captured bythe plurality of microscopes simultaneously based on the image data. 22.The system of claim 1 wherein the plurality of microscopes are locatedwithin the same facility.
 23. The system of claim 1 wherein theplurality of microscopes are located within different facilities. 24.The system of claim 1 wherein the image is a static image.
 25. Thesystem of claim 1 wherein the image is a video image.
 26. A method forcollecting a plurality of images comprising: capturing a plurality ofimages, using a plurality of microscopes, each microscope having anetwork address; providing data representative of the imagessimultaneously from the microscopes to a media server over a network;and displaying at least one image at an operations console incommunication with the media network based on the data representative ofthe images.
 27. The method of claim 26 wherein the network is a localarea network.
 28. The method of claim 26 wherein the network is acloud-based network.
 29. The method of claim 26 wherein the operationsconsole communicates with the media server through a local area network.30. The method of claim 26 wherein the operations console communicateswith the media server over a wide area network.
 31. The method of claim26 further comprising receiving, at the operations console, aninstruction for controlling one or more selected microscopes.
 32. Themethod of claim 31 wherein the instruction specifies a correspondingnetwork address of the at least one microscope.
 33. The method of claim26 further comprising mounting the microscopes on a live being, or onseveral live beings, while capturing the image.
 34. The method of claim33 further comprising permitting the live beings to move freely whilethe microscopes are mounted.
 35. The method of claim 33 wherein themicroscopes weigh less than 3 grams.
 36. The method of claim 33 whereinthe microscopes have a volume of 5 cubic centimeters or less.
 37. Themethod of claim 26 further comprising providing the operations consoleat a different facility than at least one of the plurality ofmicroscopes.
 38. The method of claim 26 wherein the network address isan Internet protocol (IP) address.
 39. The method of claim 38 whereinthe network address of each microscope of said plurality is unique tothat plurality of microscopes.
 40. The method of claim 38 wherein the IPaddress is a static IP address.
 41. The method of claim 38 wherein theIP address is assignable or alterable on the fly.
 42. The method ofclaim 26 further comprising providing one or more drug delivery devicecapable of delivering a drug to a target site.
 43. The method of claim42 wherein the target site is a region imaged by at least one microscopeof said plurality.
 44. The method of claim 42 further comprisingmounting at least one microscope of said plurality on a live being,wherein the target site is part of the live being.
 45. The method ofclaim 42 further comprising operating the drug delivery device inresponse to an input received at the operations console.
 46. The methodof claim 42 further comprising displaying, on the operations consoleimages captured by the plurality of microscopes simultaneously based onthe data representative of the images.
 47. The method of claim 26wherein the plurality of microscopes are located within the samefacility.
 48. The method of claim 26 wherein the plurality ofmicroscopes are located within different facilities.
 49. The method ofclaim 26 wherein the images are static images.
 50. The method of claim26 wherein the images are video images.
 51. A media server fordistributed microscopy, said media server comprising: a communicationinterface capable of simultaneously receiving data from a plurality ofmicroscopes over a network, each microscope of said plurality having anetwork address and being capable of capturing an image; and a processorconfigured to process the data received from the plurality ofmicroscopes to permit at least one image to be displayed on anoperations console in communication with the media server.
 52. The mediaserver of claim 51 wherein the network is a local area network.
 53. Themedia server of claim 51 wherein the network is a cloud-based network.54. The media server of claim 51 wherein the communication interfacepermits the media server to communicate with the operations consolethrough a local area network.
 55. The media server of claim 51 whereinthe communication interface permits the media server to communicate withthe operations console over a wide area network.
 56. The media server ofclaim 51 wherein the communication interface permits the data to bereceived while the microscopes are mounted on a live being, or onseveral live beings.
 57. The media of claim 56 wherein the live beingsare capable of moving freely while the microscopes are mounted.
 58. Themedia server of claim 51 wherein the communication interface permits thedata to be received from microscopes weighing 3 grams or less.
 59. Themedia server of claim 51 wherein the communication interface permits thedata to be received from microscopes having a volume of 5 cubiccentimeters or less.
 60. The media server of claim 51 wherein thecommunication interface permits the media server to communicate with theplurality of microscopes at a first location and with the operationsconsole at a second location that is within a different facility fromthe first location.
 61. The media server of claim 51 wherein thecommunication interface is configured to communicate with the pluralityof microscopes having network addresses that are Internet protocol (IP)addresses.
 62. The media server of claim 61 wherein the communicationinterface is capable of communicating with a network address of eachmicroscope of said plurality that is unique to that plurality ofmicroscopes.
 63. The media server of claim 61 wherein the IP address isa static IP address.
 64. The media server of claim 61 wherein the IPaddress is assignable or alterable on the fly.
 65. The media server ofclaim 51 wherein the communication interface is configured tocommunicate with one or more drug delivery device capable of deliveringa drug to a target site.
 66. The media server of claim 51 wherein saidprocessing includes encrypting and/or decrypting the data.
 67. The mediaserver of claim 51 wherein said processing includes compressing and/ordecompressing the data.
 68. The media server of claim 51 wherein saidprocessing includes performing analytics of the data.
 69. The mediaserver of claim 51 wherein said processing includes generating aninstruction for the operation of one or more microscope of saidplurality, that is delivered via said communication interface.
 70. Themedia server of claim 65 wherein said processing includes generating aninstruction for the operation of one or more drug delivery device, thatis delivered via said communication interface.